—by Elizabeth Nail, grade 9

WINNER of the Teen Read Week 2014 “Turn Dreams into Reality” Writing Contest

 

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Emma wanted a pet. She decided it would be much like a friend, but without the complications or the communication issues. She had considered many different creatures for this specific application, of both exotic and common variety, such as dogs, wombats, fish and koalas; but Emma had eventually narrowed her focus to a cat, a sheep, or a hedgehog.
        She had not actually discussed her brilliant idea with her parents, but she was confident that they would understand her motivations. At this final, crucial stage in her planning, however, she decided to talk to them about it.
        Emma bounded into the kitchen and sat her parents down, beaming.
        “So,” she began brightly, “I was thinking that I should have a pet?”
        Her mother and father stared at her bemusedly. Emma frowned inwardly; she had expected them to smile and agree instantly, and things were not going over quite as well as she had arranged. Still, she pushed forward.
        “I was thinking either a cat-,”
        “They scratch car seats,” interrupted her father, who was very particular about the condition of his motor vehicles.
        “Well, then a sheep-,”
        “They must smell dreadfully bad,” interjected her mother, who was partial to beautiful things (which extended to the scent of the atmosphere).
        “What about a hedgehog?” Emma finished desperately.
        Her parents reverted to their blank stares.
        “Those scratch car seats as well, correct?” her father finally said.
        “Is the answer no?” Emma asked.
        “If you know of a pet that doesn’t have an awful stench-,” began her mother.
        “Or claws-,” added her father.
        “Or is difficult to maintain-,” supplemented her mother.
        “Or spines-,” inserted her father.
        “Or excretes in an unsatisfactory manner,” concluded her mother, “then we might possibly look into it.”
        Emma had invested a lot of time into narrowing down her list, deliberating over every last detail. This lack of gratification for her efforts naturally upset her, as well as the prospect that she might not ever have a pet at all, for she was hard-pressed to find an animal which suited her parents’ numerous stipulations. She adjourned the meeting and went outside to the backyard, where she sat and mentally reconsidered every creature of which she knew.
        While she was thinking, she heard a rustling in the pile of autumnal leaves her father had raked up that morning. Upon turning her head, Emma saw an innocuous orange-saddled corn snake, about three feet in length, which blended in almost perfectly with the blotchy colors of the leaves.
        Emma sprang to her feet, thrilled. A snake! She walked up to it and spoke soft, indistinguishable words. Responding to the sound of her voice, the snake squiggled closer. Emma held out her arm for it to coil around, which it did. Its forked tongue flickered over her elbow in such a way that tickled her immensely. Emma giggled and delightedly studied the intricately patterned scales of her new friend.
        “Hey, Mom,” Emma called, in the general direction of the house, “How about a snake?”